How To Color B.O.T.A.?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jun 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Le_Corsair	25 Jun 2003
I was lucky enough today to find a B.O.T.A. deck in a local New Age store. I know you color it yourself, and the instruction book is very explicit about which colors, but leaves the medium up in the air. I checked some old threads, and they were no help. So: For you owners of B.O.T.A., how did you color your deck, and how have they held up? What did you use as a fixative? Do you have any tips to keep me from ruining the deck? Rest assured that I won't start working on it until I have some advice. Thanks in advance! Bob :THERM :CL :SL :OL :WL

truthsayer	25 Jun 2003
i used colored pencils and no fixative. if i did use a fixative, i'd use either hairspray or a cheap artist spray fixative. just be sure a few hours to dry thoroughly. i've considered doing another in water colors. i think the paper is strong enough if you paint wet on dry instead of wet on wet. i think felt tip markers would also be okay.

Major Tom	26 Jun 2003
I used coloured pencil. Then I covered them with clear contact paper to seal them. Some of the colours have blead but the cards themselves have held up for 25 years.

jmd	26 Jun 2003
It has been many years since I coloured mine. The larger version I used watercolours execpt for the gold and silver, in which acrylics were used. My smaller set were mainly done using pencils. Again, no need for fixatives.

Emily	26 Jun 2003
I've never coloured a B.O.T.A deck but I do colour mandalas, and I've found that the best pencils are artist quality. They are softer but durable and don't smear, some cheaper artists pencils will smudge and smear. The childrens colouring pencils are ok but the colours are softer and sometimes a little waxy. My favourite brands at the moment are Crayola-Pro blendable artists pencils and WHSmiths artists pencils. :)

The How To Color B.O.T.A.? thread was originally posted on 25 Jun 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.